


A Lot of Crows for Concern

by zahhisio



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Crows, Gen, Henry needs some familiars, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27433480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zahhisio/pseuds/zahhisio
Summary: "Summoner, do you have someone who can transform into a raven in the Order?""Why yes, we do!""Nya-ha! Say no more!"
Comments: 9
Kudos: 31





	A Lot of Crows for Concern

Ever since he saw a man turn into a raven back in Ylisse, he had made it his life goal to have someone like that mysterious man as a companion. After all, a fierce dark mage who boasts the scariest, deadliest of hexes needs an equally fierce familiar, no?

Upon meeting Panne, however, his expectations were dashed, gone with the wind together with her revelation of her being the last of Taguels, the shapeshifter race. He did not pay it any mind, however, seeing that he was already happy with his personal murder of crows that he had become friendly with. 

One day, he was summoned to Askr along with his fellow Shepherds - and arriving in Askr provided him with a new hope. In a land where allies, old and new, were gained, there was only one person who fit Henry’s requirement to a tee: Naesala.

To the people of Tellius, the raven laguz named Naesala is the ambitious king of Kilvas who will stop at nothing in order to make his poor country prosper.

To Henry, the man with the funny wings named Naesala is just one big raven... and his next familiar.

Menacing? Check. 

Able to turn to a raven? Check. 

Cooperative? Not really, but he was working on it.

Obviously, it would not do for the king of Kilvas to quietly and obediently bow down to a creepy, macabre mage from Ashera-knows-where. Since then, he avoided Henry like a plague, unable to bear listening to his requests any longer. Henry did not give up easily, and he continued to look for Naesala so often that this peculiar pastime of his had become the talk of the Order. 

Most of the time, it was out of his own volition; today, however, it was out of a request from the Summoner.

 _Can you please fetch Naesala for me?_ Henry recalled Kiran’s words. _I want you two to be part of a team. I’ll tell you about the other members later._ With a spring in his steps and his favorite tome in his hands Henry walked towards the forest near Askr’s castle, eager to meet Naesala under official orders.

* * *

The forest was unfamiliar to Henry, but it felt homely to him all the same. It reminded him of the days of his childhood where he spent time with the animals, giggling and laughing together with the eager furry friends who flock all over him.

Now, the forest stayed silent, save for the voice of a young woman echoing throughout the trees. “Henry? Is… that you?”

A sweet voice, with hesitation behind each word. Henry’s relentless quest in contracting Naesala had familiarized him with it. It belonged to a friend of Naesala’s, whose white feathers and dress contrasted nicely against the verdant leaves, alerting Henry to her presence no sooner had she showed up from behind the thick trunks.

“Nya ha! I was looking for Naesala and found you instead, Leanne!” Henry greeted Leanne merrily like an old friend, a proof of his budding friendship with her thanks to his quest for a familiar. Upon being noticed, Leanne jumped down the branch she stood on, her wings flapping and keeping her from falling flat, providing Henry with a majestic sight that she personally was not really a fan of. He liked them black, after all.

“Looking… for Naesala?” Leanne asked hesitantly, a clear proof of her poor grasp on Askr’s common language. Henry did not mind it that much - if anything, it reminded him of the burly Shepherd he talked to once in a while. 

He nodded at Leanne. Her face lit up and she daintily took Henry by his hand, leading him into a path as she instructed, “Come… this way. Follow me.”

Henry quietly followed, maintaining his grin as he followed Leanne into a clearing. Trees gave way into grassy plains littered with rocks, logs and a small lake. He spotted a silhouette upon exiting the forest. He looked tall and proud, observing the lake with a calm expression on his face, which rapidly turned from excitement into disappointment as he spotted Leanne first and Henry second.

“Hey-o!” Henry greeted him with a jovial wave. “If it isn’t my future familiar, Naesala!”

Naesala clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. “This again? I’ve told you, kid, I have no intention to become your familiar. At all.”

Same words, different day. But that won’t dampen Henry’s will. He fluttered around Naesala, gazing at him with his usual closed eyes while Leanne, who was glad to see Naesala ‘make a new friend’, watched with a giggle. “Aww, why not?” he said, changing his tone to sound as cute as possible, which sounded more like a screech to Naesala, who gritted his teeth in annoyance. “We just need to make a blood pact and make a promise to be eternally bound to each other! Then we can rip and tear through the battlefield together! What’s not to love?”

“As much as that sounds interesting, I’ll pass,” Naesala averted his gaze, then looked back at Henry. The silly expression the young mage had on his face totally did not suit the macabre fantasy he spouted earlier to him. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“The Summoner told me to fetch you. He wants us to see him in his office.”

“Is that so? Let’s go, then.”

Without further ado Naesala stepped forward, ready to shapeshift into his laguz form, before changing his mind upon realizing that Henry was nearby. He did not need to rile him up more than once in a day, and so he decided to take the grounded path instead. Henry tagged along a few steps behind him, but not before bidding farewell to Leanne, who stayed behind and waved back at him.

“Bye, Leanne!”

“Goodbye... Henry!”

* * *

“I’ve been wondering, kid.” Naesala broke the silence between him and Henry as they walked down the castle’s hallway. “Why me? Can’t you just pester other laguz like Tibarn?”

Henry had only a faint idea about Tibarn, but he knew full well that he was not a raven shapeshifter, which means that he did not fit his criteria. Henry wagged his index finger at Naesala and shook his head. “That won’t work, buddy! Dark mages like me need crows to sell the menacing look,” he explained.  
  
“But I’m a raven laguz,” said Naesala, irritated.

Henry shrugged. “Nyeh! Ravens and crows aren’t that different.”

Berating himself for forgetting how stubborn Henry could be, Naesala let out a sigh of defeat. “...I give up.”

Walking together with Naesala, back in silence, had only made Henry all the more determined to obtain him. He wanted to experience the feeling of being feared as his giant raven swooped down the battlefield, jet-black wings spread wide and bathing the enemy army in shadows. He was ready to go through the hard way to fulfill his dream, the hexes and rituals he mastered almost coming to handy, but Kiran specifically told him not to even attempt to harm the other Heroes. While he was not really on board with that idea, an unknown force compelled him to obey Kiran - and so there he was, left with no choice to convince Naesala other than the good ol’ silver tongue, which he realized he sorely lacked after consultation with his fellow Shepherds.

Reaching the Summoner’s office, Henry let Naesala knock on the door thrice before entering together. The room looked normal - a bookshelf filled with books on tactics, a sofa to relax, a large window exposing the room to natural light - save for the chair near the Summoner’s desk, which was turned towards the window. Once Henry closed the door softly, the chair spun towards him and Naesala, seemingly timed perfectly to the closed door, revealing the Summoner, his grinning face obscured by the hood he kept up.

“Gentlemen. I have been expecting the two of you,” he said in a made-up hoarse voice. Naesala raised an eyebrow in confusion while Henry greeted him casually, “Hey-o, Kiran! What’s the occasion?”

Kiran rested his elbows on the table and propped his chin up with his hands, both interlocking their fingers with the other’s, giving him the impression of an evil mastermind. “You see, you two... I’m here to induct you into this team in mind for the next sortie,” he said. He was still pushing for his tone to be as low as possible; understandably, no one fell for the menacing effect he meant to instill upon them. Naesala still watched him incredulously, while Henry started stifling his laugh. He was amused, partly from Kiran’s weird act and partly from the revelation that he would team up with Naesala officially. “Oh, goodie!” He chirped in delight. “Teaming up with my future familiar sounds nice!”

Obviously, Naesala did not respond as kindly as Henry. 

“...Are you serious?”

“No, I’m not Serious. I’m Kiran.”

The raven laguz held back the urge to rip the Summoner to shreds. Not that he could, anyway. “I have no words.”

“But don’t worry!” Kiran slammed the table with his hands and rose from his chair, dropping the ‘scary mastermind’ pretense altogether. “I’m getting two more people to round up the party.”

Upon finishing his sentence, the three heard a knock from the door. “Come in!” yelled Kiran. The door swung open to reveal a short-haired mage, her eyes cerulean blue, her dress flowing behind her, and her aura threatening. Henry and Naesala realized that she was no pushover. They parted from the center of the room, making way for the lady to present herself.

“You called for me, Summoner?” she said in an enticing, but confident voice.

Kiran nodded. “Yep! Henry, Naesala, you might have met her before but I’ll introduce her to you again: this is Ursula, also known as the Blue _Crow._ ”

Not realizing why Kiran emphasized the last word, Henry approached Ursula with the giddiness of a kid about to meet his idol. He just _knew_ that the woman standing in front of him, too, had a penchant for killing - his intuition said so.

“Oh wow! That’s a beautiful nickname,” praised Henry. “Can you summon crows?”

Furrowing her eyebrows in response to Henry’s question, Ursula answered calmly, “I can’t. And in my line of work, I don’t need to.”

While the two talked, Naesala, whose cunning made him realize something, walked up to Kiran, leaning forward as he stared at the Summoner dead in the eye. “Blue Crow, raven…,” he spoke slowly, realizing something. “Hold up, Kiran. Are you teaming us up because of…?”

“Ding ding ding!” Kiran’s sudden energetic jump surprised everyone. He put himself in the center of the room, garnering the attention of Ursula and Henry as he explained, “You got it! As a matter of fact, this team will be called ‘A Crows for Concern!’ How does that sound?”

Henry watched as Ursula’s mood flipped from happy to angry. Her look of anger was, too, interesting to him, as a fellow ‘crow’. “Terrible,” Ursula hissed disapprovingly at Kiran, her tone becoming harsher. “And what is this about working together? I thought you called me here for an operation!”

“I might have bent the truth a little bit when talking to you.” Kiran smirked mischievously.

Before Ursula could leave the room, another knock was heard. “Oh, here comes the last person!” Kiran yelled gleefully while watching the door open and reveal the newcomer together with Henry, Naesala and Ursula. In came a man with a stern look and short, auburn hair - he stared back at the others in confusion, obviously taken aback by the welcoming party. “It’s pretty crowded in here, I see,” he said.

That was when Kiran started holding back his laugh. Hunched over with his hand on his mouth, Kiran fought back the urge to cackle as he introduced the newcomer. 

“Henry, Naesala, Ursula… let me introduce to you the last person in your team: _Raven_.”

Ursula facepalmed. Naesala groaned. Raven said nothing, still confused.

Meanwhile, a smile played on Henry’s lips - the brightest, widest, and happiest smile he ever had in Askr. Finally, his dream of having a familiar was fulfilled, and by the look of things he might have just gained _three_ of them.

**Author's Note:**

> This entry is written for Henry Week 2020! Feel free to check their Twitter to see what people have to offer for the best crow mage boi.


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